1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to outdoor tents for camping and outdoor events, such as wedding parties, store tent sales, etc. More specifically, it relates to outdoor tents that do not require pegs or other in-ground attachments, and utilize anchors formed of tank compartments, which may be filled with fluent material. In some preferred embodiments, the tank compartment anchors are integrally formed with the tent sheet material.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following patents are exemplary of the prior art relating to anchoring of tarps and tents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,367 describes a tent fumigation apparatus that is for placement over a building to allow fumigation of the building by introducing fumigating gas into the tent. The preferred tent includes pie-shaped sections, at least some of which have ties allowing sections to be tied off for reducing the size of the tent and conforming it to the shape of the building. Tube means is provided to be affixed to the bottom of the tent for sealing purposes. The tent may include a lifting structure at the top and a cover for closing an opening at the lifting structure. At least one slot is provided in the tent for entrance and egress.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,790 describes a tarpaulin anchoring system for retaining a tarpaulin on a pile of stored grain or other granular material that comprises of a plurality of anchors embedded in the pile. Each anchor has an attachment element protruding upwardly from the pile, with the attachment element being connected to a fastener affixed to the underside of the tarpaulin. The anchors are placed in the grain pule, throughout the area covered by the tarpaulin, as required to retain it in place. The anchors themselves may be of a screw or auger type which can be driven into an existing grain pile and attached to a tarpaulin as it is spread over the pile. In the case where a tarp is suspended above a grain storage area prior to formation of the grain pile, the anchors may be discs or plates attached to the underside of the tarpaulin by ropes; the anchors are buried in the pile when formed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,421 describes a cover system for an automobile which includes a flexible cover, preferably of nylon, having leading, tailing and side edge portions and of a suitable dimension to fit over the entire car body from rear bumper to the front bumper and sides thereof. The flexible cover includes an elastic leader segment attached at a first end to the cover and spaced from the trailing edge thereof. A second end of the leader segment is attached to a rotatable spool housed in a containment tube. The spool is rotated for storing in the cover by a motor, by a spring-biased shaft arrangement or by a manually turnable crank or combinations thereof. The containment tube may be pivotally swung outwardly from the trunk to an operable position at the rear of the trunk lid. After the cover in applied to the automobile, the containment tube is swung back to the trunk compartment for safe storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,794 describes a method for shielding, anchoring and containing an object such as a trailer or motor home in gale-force winds. A wind-permeable perforate sheet extends downwardly and outwardly from the top of the object or the roof of a home at an acute angle so as to surround a substantial portion of each of the sides with an inclined wind-permeable planar surface. The sheet is anchored to helical ground anchors via mechanical attachments which may also be used to tighten the sheet over the object or home. Apparatus for shielding, anchoring and containing an object such as a trailer of motor home in gale-force winds is also disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,168 describes a fast-erecting tent in which several open-ended arcuate interconnect via a single connector. The frame of the tent includes 1) a pair of resilient, planar open-end arcuate sections that form a filiform base loop; 2) a pair of resilient open-end arcuate sections that from a filiform upper lop; 3) a connector which links a terminal end of the first arcuate section of the base loop plus a terminal end of the first arcuate section of the upper loop to the terminal end of the second arcuate section of the base loop plus the terminal end of the second arcuate section of the upper loop; and 4) a segmented, internally biased, arch shaped tubular strut. He ends of the strut are slidably and rotatably connected to the arcuate sections of the base loop. The strut is connected to the arcuate sections of the upper loop by means of a twist clip. The fabric covering is wrapped around and attached to the frame by conventional means. The connector is a sleeve with a through-bore. Through-bar having a cross-section of multiple, parallel, partial, interconnected, right circular cylinders and is designed so that the terminal ends of the arcuate sections forming the filiforms loops can be retained in the through-bore mainly by friction. The terminal ends of the arcuate sections that form the filiform loops are permanently fixed within the through-bore at a first end of the connector but are free to slide, rotate, and swivel in and be detached from a second end of the through-bore. Both the base loop and upper loop can be either elliptical or semi-elliptical.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,278 describes a tent including a closed loop resilient coilable member, the member being distorted to form at least three support loops. Each support loop adjoins the other support loops along a single portion of its perimeter with the support loops having a common adjoining region. Each support loop has a perimeter substantially the same as that of the other support loops and a membrane attached to the perimeter of the support loop. The membrane extends between the opposing portions of the support loop to restrain the support loop. The tent further includes a base membrane attached to the perimeters of the support loops and extending between the support loops to restrain the support loops in relation to one another. When the tent is expanded, the support loops are in spaced relation to one another around the common adjoining region and are restrained by the membranes. The common adjoining region forms an apex of the tent and the membranes define walls and a base of the tent. When the tent is fully collapsed, the support loops form overlapping loops over one another that are coiled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,040 describes a tent frame that has a center pole used for stretching and sustaining a tent""s roof when pitching a tent. A plurality of side poles are coupled to each other through a plurality of scissor-type ribs, with upper ends of the ribs being hinged to connectors provided at top ends of the side poles and lower ends of the ribs being hinged to sliders movably fitted over the side poles. The center pole is coupled to the connectors of the side poles through a plurality of center pole ribs. The above center pole ribs individually consist of two rib members, which are coupled to each other through a hinge joint. Each of the center pole ribs is also hinged to the slider of an associated side pole through a support link, thus being collapsible at the hinge joint in accordance with a sliding motion of the slider along the side pole.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.
The present invention is directed to an outdoor tent having its own upward support structure, having sidewalls, with a separate top or forming a top, made of flexible sheet material, with a plurality of bottom edges. Along at least two of the plurality of bottom edges, there is at least one, and preferably, a plurality of tank compartment anchors that have at least one fill orifice and closure means for the fill orifice. In one preferred embodiment, there is at least one such tank compartment anchors on each side of the tent.
The plurality of tank compartment anchors are hollow, flexible tank compartment anchors, and, in some preferred embodiments, the tank compartment anchors and sheet material are formed of the same material as the tent. In other embodiments, the tank compartment anchors are made of materials different from the tent material. The tank compartment anchors may have any shape, or size, and rectangular shapes are most easily foldable and balanced.
The tent sheet material may also take any tent shape desired, and, in some preferred embodiments, the tent is rectangular from a top view and has four edges, having two bottom edges, being two opposite edges. This would be a basic pup tent with an open front and an open back. There are at least two bottom edges opposite one another, and in some preferred embodiments, there is at least a back sheet with a third bottom edge. Some most preferred embodiments include a front, a back, sides and, in some embodiments, a bottom sheet. These tents have openings, at least in the front to create an entranceway. The sidewalls, back and even the front may contain a plurality of tank compartment anchors.
In many preferred embodiments, the present invention tent includes tank compartment anchors that are preferably aligned in a row parallel to an edge.